July 8, 2026

Happy Disability Pride Month!

Dear community,

As Disability Pride Month begins, I want to (re)introduce myself to those of you who don’t know me, or aren’t familiar with the work that I do.

I’m not only a registered art therapist, supervisor, author, PhD candidate, wife and mother (including two fur babies), but also a person with a Disability. These parts of who I am are not separate from my work, my creativity, or my support of others. They shape the way I understand identity, belonging, resilience, access, and the many ways we come home to ourselves 😊

Disability Pride Month has been celebrated in the United States since July 1990, when the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law. That landmark civil rights legislation helped affirm that Disabled people deserve equal access, dignity, participation, and protection from discrimination. But Disability Pride is more than a legal anniversary. It is also a celebration of identity, culture, community, creativity, and the underlying foundation that Disability is a natural and valuable part of human diversity.

Although Disability Pride Month began in connection with Disability rights history in the U.S., I believe it deserves to be recognized internationally. Disability is not limited by borders. Disabled people exist in every country, culture, and community. Our stories include visible and invisible Disabilities, chronic illness, neurodivergence, sensory issues, mental health challenges, mobility differences, pain, fatigue, and many other lived realities. There is no single Disability experience. That’s all part of the richness of Disability culture.

I also want to give a heartfelt nod to Pride Month, which we celebrated last month in our local community. Many people also identify with both LGBTQ+ and Disability communities, and those overlapping identities deserve acknowledgement and respect as well. Pride, in all its forms, reminds us that identity is not something to shrink, hide, or apologize for. It is something to honour with appreciation, positivity, and empowerment.

At the same time, no part of who we are should be celebrated for only one month of the year. Awareness months can help us gather, learn, advocate, and remember our histories, but our identities are not seasonal. Disabled people deserve access, affirmation, autonomy, rest, expression, and belonging every day. Those of us who live at the intersections deserve to be seen in our wholeness every day.

As an art therapist, I believe deeply in the healing power of expression. Art can give language to what words cannot always hold. It can help us witness our bodies, our grief, our joy, our resistance, and our becoming. For Disabled people especially, creative expression can be a powerful way to reclaim our narratives, challenge shame, and make visible the beauty and complexity of lived experience.

This month, I’m coming home to Corner Brook, with an office at 31 Wellington Street (Corner Brook Dance Hub). I’m also online for anyone who is out of town but would still like to reach out 😊 I’m opening my doors (physical or virtual), offering a first session free for anyone who identifies with intersectionality of any sort. If you don’t have time for a session this month, feel free to reach out and (re)introduce yourself! I’d still love to connect with you.

This Disability Pride Month, I also offer this reminder: you don’t have to apologize for merely taking up space. All the bits and pieces that make up your unique identity are not something you have to justify. Your needs are not an inconvenience. Your pace, access needs, boundaries, and ways of being are worthy of respect. You are allowed to own your whole, inclusive, wonderful self—not only in July or any other designated month, but every day of the year.

With pride, care, and solidarity,

Sandra

Safe Harbour Expressive Therapies

www.safeharbourstudio.ca

info@safeharbourstudio.ca